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Sunday, December 31, 2006
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
year's end post!
Well, so, here we are, the last days of 2006 and we've managed to do and see all sorts of wonderful things... about which I haven't written at all!
So, first a little update about us. We're still living in Beijing, China, in a nice flat on the 35th floor of an area which has seen tremendous development this year (just ask us about the melodic sound of hammers, cranes and all sort of machines "easing" your way out of sleep in the morning...), still together after 5 and a half years (well, almost), and still eager to travel all around (inside and outside China). We've been living in this, the capital of the People's Republic of China, for a year and a half already! and it really doesn't feel that long (a good sign; imagine saying "and it's felt an eternity...").
As for the good things we've had this year, well, it's been mostly trips! I mean, you know how addicted I am to travelling, I practically live waiting for the next trip, so it's natural I put travel as one of the things that has brought us the most pleasure this year. And where have we been? Well... within China we've been to Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Macau, Hong Kong and Xi'an, and abroad we've been to Japan (Osaka, Kyoto, Nara), Singapore and Thailand (Bangkok, Ayutthaya and Chiang Mai). I also travelled to Mexico (without my habib), for work, and on top of that we also had a surprise visit from my parents, for my birthday! They stayed a couple of weeks with us, and it was awesome, really! we had so much fun introducing China to them, and they loved it.
Workwise... well, you may laugh, I've rewritten this paragraph so many times! I've scraped the darker version and will summarise it like this: I've learnt A LOT, as my job gets you close to babies and corpses, tycoons and jails, artists and con-artists, slime-balls and... more slime-balls! You can throw a number of things at me now, and I won't bat an eyelid. Oh, and I can say ('cause now I KNOW) I won't sell myself for a million dollars.
Well, what else... Well, there's just too much. I should have been writing every now and then, and of course now all I can say is we've had an awesome 2006, and are totally looking forward to 2007 (well, of course, more travel!).
Happy new year!
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Thailand, part I - Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai, the last part of our trip (well, almost, we still spent an additional weekend in Bangkok for partying, shopping, buying books and just relaxing), was a really pleasant surprise. It all started sort of wrong: we had booked a "bungalow" somewhere "near" the old city. We arrived at night, and an employee from the guesthouse picked us up. We drove to the old city, and then away, and away, and further away from it, into areas that looked progressively less friendly and safe. We had already payed a deposit, so... When we finally arrived, the employee took us... to a bedroom! His English was very limited, and my Thai would only get us a vegetarian meal (lol), but in the end it became clear that they had given the bungalow to someone else, and that they we're offering us the bedroom, free of charge for that night while they sorted things out with the owner, who was in the U.S. at the time. Well, I had booked a nice, spacious bungalow, and it wasn't certain we'd get it the next day, so we went to an internet cafe, logged onto a last-minute booking site, did a super-quick search, and booked another hotel somewhere else. It could be a worse place, but I just didn't want to stay at a place which hadn't bothered to keep our booking! So we went for our stuff, I called the owner to the U.S., informed him of our decision, asked for the refund of our deposit, and left for the other guesthouse. When we arrived, my heart sank, it looked like your average grotty backpacker guesthouse! and it was late already, we were tired... The people there didn't have the slightest idea of what to do with the booking I had printed out, until they realised we were actually staying at a boutique hotel on the other side of town with the same name! Onto the tuk-tuk again, and we FINALLY got there: a traditional hotel, with a HUGE main room, tasteful and big bathroom, and balcony. YEAY! And, best of all, the nicest staff you could ever find. They fixed us a delicious dinner, brought it to our room to eat on the balcony, there was wi-fi in the room, the place was quiet, with a nice garden, trees, candles on the footpaths leading to the rooms... I'm so glad the previous guesthouse screwed up!
Chiang Mai is a place you have to visit. Even if it is Thailand's second biggest city, it's still fairly relaxed, and the temples there are superb! With the exception of Wat Phra Khaeo in Bangkok, we liked Chiang Mai's temples better. We visited, among others:
- The city's oldest temple, Wat Chiang Man, our first encounter with Thailand's northern temple architecture.
- Wat Chedi Luang, an enormous temple with shrines that had probably some of the most beautiful roofs we saw in all our trip, and some beautiful seven headed nagas (snakes).
- Wat Phra Sing, with the strangest lion statue I've ever seen guarding a temple (check out the head), and with some very beautiful scenes on the inside of the main shrine.
That (plus a few other places), and the unbelievably welcoming attitude of the staff at our hotel, made our stay a really pleasant one.
We were also somewhat interested in checking out some of Thailand's minorities, who live in the north, but we were pretty far from that (they live in the far north and in places not so readily accessible) and so had almost discarded the idea... when I saw some tour agencies did day trips to visit some tribes (especially the long-neck ones, where the women put metal bands around their necks, elongating them). Well, that seemed ideal! a day trip! so there were some groups not far from Chiang Mai after all! We signed up, and took a van the next morning, along with two Japanese and two Americans.
First, we drove for about half an hour to an Orchid and Butterfly farm. Not bad. Then to some caves (the Chiang Dao Caves), to see some shrines and some buddhas inside the caves. Not awe-inspiring, but fine. And then, another hour or more through winding roads to reach Tha Thon, a temple up the mountains, and a trip where we were finally told we'd be reaching the towns we were visiting at about 2pm, near the border with Myanmar! We were actually visiting THOSE tribes! I mean, if we had asked, we would have know, and we would have NOT GONE, but who would have thought that! I mean, it was a DAY TRIP, were we supposed to think we'd drive a total of FIVE HUNDRED KILOMETRES? Anyhow, we were already there, there was no turning back, and we finally got there, to see some Akha and Karen hill tribes. This last pic is a Karen woman. The smile was a natural one, because I tripped when stepping back to take the pic!
The experience was really strange. There we were, a group of foreigners visiting groups of refugees from Myanmar who made a living by keeping their traditional dress and some crafts. The town was a bit of a set up, as the groups lived further up the mountains, but they had this smaller camp where they could sell their stuff to tourists. In a way, it seemed fair: you keep your traditions, I'll pay you for it. But after a while you began to wonder, how much of their culture was being preserved? what about their languages? was there any effort to preserve their linguistic heritage as there was to preserve their personal decoration? how about their other traditions, like songs, dances, legends? Was the whole deal focused on preserving the most superficial aspect of their cultures, the one that tourists (including us) could photograph easily? Well, we had an interesting experience alright, and we also came to the conclusion that that's not the kind of ethnic tourism we're into. And we still had to drive back to Chiang Mai, and the drive back seemed ENDLESS. Next time we want to see some remote village, we'll skip the tours.
Once back home we were KNACKERED, but we still had to have dinner! Luckily, just across the road there was this very nice French restaurant, next to a river, and we had a wonderful, relaxing dinner there.
The last day we gave our bodies a well deserved TWO HOUR full Thai massage, which was somewhat different from what you got further south, the techniques were a bit different (I'm no expert, so i can't elaborate further, sorry!). That was GOOD. Oh, and the weather was so much better than in Bangkok, sunny but just a bit warm, even a bit cool at night!
And so, in love with Chiang Mai, we left back for Bangkok for two more days before heading back home to Beijing.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Thailand, part II - Ayutthaya
After so many exhausting days in Bangkok we headed for Ayutthaya, where we were going to spend a whole day and stay overnight. I had visited Ayutthaya in 1999, and was really eager to take my habib there! I remembered it as a place packed with ancient and impressive monuments surrounded by peaceful green areas with lily ponds, a place to appreciate slowly, taking in all it had to offer little by little. That time I had visited a wonderful museum about Siam and Ayutthaya, funded by the Japanese, with a very nice design and quite a few interactive exhibits. And, on top of it all, this time there was going to be a cultural festival, and the place had been designated not long ago as a World Heritage Site!
What we found was, well, "slightly" different. There was a festival alright, which consisted of tons of tents, stands and stages, packed with crap: crap goods (shoddy clothes, watches, DVDs, house appliances, you name it!), crap shows (girls in mini-skirts clumsily dancing to bad pop, totally amateurish representations of what Ayutthaya must have been like before, speakers blasting your ears with bad music...), and hundreds of people completely uninterested in any of the ruins (which you could barely see thanks to all the stages and tents, anyhow). There was no peace and quiet to be found, and the pics I show here are deceiving, as they were taken from very specific angles.
As for the museum, well, most of the interactive exhibits were broken, and it looked rather run down all in all. What a shame.
Still, the ruins are impressive by all means, and maybe the place did revert to a more peaceful, respectful atmosphere after the "cultural" festival, but maybe I wouldn't recommend staying the night, maybe just doing it as a day trip from Bangkok. Maybe I'm a snob, and I can't understand how an all-the-crap-you-can-buy "cultural" bazaar and Siamese ruins and lily ponds interact.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Thailand, part I - Bangkok
As our last trip of the year we chose a place where we could have it all: ancient monuments, culture, great food, and totally superficial shopping and clubbing. Where else could that have been but Thailand! We spent a total of 15 days seeing the country.
Our first stop was Bangkok. In some ways it wasn't a very pleasant experience, it sort of reminded us of Mexico City's problems: pollution, traffic jams, lots of great infrastructure but with an unfortunate organisation... And on top of that, it was HOT. I know most people flee to Thailand to escape cold weather, but I was sort of hoping for temperatures closer to 20+ degrees Celsius (it was December, after all!), but instead got 30+!
Actually, it wasn't even my first time to Bangkok, I had visited already on my own in 1999. And stayed two days (maybe even less): I had been travelling for about a month through some very relaxed, easy-going, quiet towns and places in China, Laos and northern Thailand, and when I got to Bangkok I got fed up with the noise, the size of the city, the traffic, the crowds, and after visiting the main sightseeing spots I fled to the jungle on a tour! LOL So, this time I was determined to explore and enjoy the city I rejected so strongly 7 years ago.
We spent seven days in Bangkok, and we actually planned the trip so we'd be there for the king's birthday! The king was born on a Tuesday (I think, correct me if I'm wrong!) and, since for Thais the colour of Tuesday is yellow, then the king's colour is YELLOW! and yellow was Bangkok's favourite colour all the time we were there: almost everyone was wearing a yellow t-shirt (some with messages like "I love the king" or "long live the king"), and there were yellow flags and banners with the king's image EVERYWHERE. On the king's birthday, we made it to Wat Phra Khaeo (the Temple of the Emerald Buddha), probably the highlight of any visit to Bangkok, where hundreds upon hundreds of Thais were visiting, praying, and sitting wherever they were allowed to wait until nightfall and sing a birthday song to the king. It was pretty hot, all the shady places had been taken up, and the crowds were getting a bit too much to handle, so we decided to leave and come back at night to watch all the Thais sing to their king.
By the time we tried to get back, it was almost impossible! We had to get off the taxi blocks ahead of the temple, and could only make it to Sanam Luang Park, in front of the temple and the Grand Palace. All of Bangkok was there, wearing yellow, and holding candles, waiting for the right time. At about 8pm we heard some singing in the distance, coming from the Palace and temple, and so all the people around us started singing and holding their candles high! I am most definitely not a fan of worshipping someone (dead or alive), and the Thai king is adored and revered by his people (we could compare the reverence they have for him with the reverence practicing catholics have for the pope), but the whole experience was really nice, even a bit mystical (hundreds of people, wearing similar clothes, singing with candles, ok?), and it was especially touching when they started singing the Thai anthem after the birthday song. We left shortly after that, exhausted, but content.
I could spend days writing about Bangkok alone, but there's guidebooks, novels, essays and websites about the City of Angels, so let me just tell you about just a few other interesting things we saw there:
- Puppet Theatre. This is an art form that was lost for a long time, but was revived as part of project from the king (one of a great number of projects sponsored by him). The stories told are usually stories from the Ramakien, which is Thai version of the Indian Ramayana. What's interesting is not just the detail the puppets show, or the fanciness of the story lines (we saw one with Hanuman, a four armed divine monkey with crystal teeth and diamond fur, a giant snake being wrapped around an upside down mountain to churn a potion from an ocean of milk, and a god sliced in half who takes revenge by eating the moon and the sun, hence explaining eclipses), but that each puppet is held by three people (sort of like Japanese bunraku) who seamlessly coordinate the puppets head, arms and legs, and who actually move and dance pretty much what the puppet does! Really interesting.
- Buddhism. Or not. There's Buddhas everywhere, mostly as a central image in temples, but there's also some Hinduism, like this shrine to Brahma (the Erawan Shrine), where people pay dancers to thank him for wishes granted?
- Muay Thai. We couldn't resist it, we had to go see a match! Is it violent? No, it's ULTRAviolent. Those small looking guys give some mean kicks! so powerful! And you shouldn't miss the ritual before the fight, where they sort of dance to some soft rhythmic traditional music, after which they proceed to beat and kick the lights out of each other. We couldn't take our eyes off of them! Except to watch the ecstatic crowd cheering them.
- Khon. Another traditional art revived by his majesty. So lost was this kind of art that none of the Thais we met had the faintest idea of what Khon was. Once again, stories from the Ramakien, and another story with Hanuman as the main character. You could see the Chinese influence there, except that dialogues are recited/sung not by the actors, but by two other artists standing on the side of the stage. It was interesting, but all the actors were too young, and their performance was a bit lacking. Still, hopefully the project will continue and they'll gain on experience and pass it on.
- Nightlife. It wasn't all culture and spiritual enrichment we were after, right? We partied often, and hard. We took a walk along Bangkok's infamous Patpong, where countless night clubs offer shows that would make most of my female friends cringe just by READING the things those women can do with their private bits. As much as you could consider those women just as people really good at using a part of the bodies for profit, it wasn't our cup of tea and took it only as a cultural tour, and didn't enter any of the clubs. Which doesn't mean we didn't party, lol; I'll just say we got our FAIR SHARE of fun.
- The upper world, and the lower reaches... Well, it's just that some parts of Bangkok are like a bit like a futuristic movie, where the upper classes live above ground and the lower ones next to it! You have to get on the Sky Train (an elevated mass transit system) to see it: you can use it to get to any number of nice, fancy shopping malls, or just to avoid the ugly traffic below, or simply to walk from one point to the other. And when you look down, you see all these cramped streets, some packed with street vendors, noisy, with worn facades, where the people who can't afford the Sky Train (which is a bit pricey by Thai standards) jostle to move around. Weird.
- FOOD. What can I say, not only was food spicy and delicious, but most of the places we tried had either vegetarian options, or were more than willing to modify their dishes for me. Of the very few words/sentences I learned in Thai was "I'm vegetarian"! LOL.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
mom and dad in da 'Jing, part III - LIVE
Finally, we also took my parents to experience some of Beijing's normal but picturesque simple things, especially around the city's old hutongs (胡同), or traditional alleyways.
We took them shopping... Though I think what my dad enjoyed most was shopping at the Silk Market (秀水街)! The man hates shopping, ok? He's the kind of person to go to a place knowing what he wants, getting it right away, and lingering no more. My mom's the opposite, she looks around, tries stuff, looks at other stuff she didn't intend to buy... which drives my dad crazy! So what's the difference in China? In China, in places like the Silk Market, you have to haggle! Vendors will usually quote whichever price they feel they can get away with, and then some more, so not haggling is suicide. And my dad had the time of his life arguing, joking, pretending, and using whatever tactics he could think of to bring prices down! He was like a child playing a game, and for the first time in his life he enjoyed "shopping". LOL
We also took them to see old houses and entryways...
Wandering around narrow, bike-filled streets...
And experiencing the calm atmosphere of this side of Beijing...
In a previous post I mentioned my dad had always wanted to go to Macao. But that doesn't mean he had always wanted to go to China, ok? In fact, he had always expressed a lack of interest, even though I had lived there twice before. But now, with this visit, and having seen Hong Kong, Macao and practically everything there was to see in Beijing, he left with a wholly different view! My mom, well, she's my mom, she wanted to visit me wherever. Which doesn't mean she didn't enjoy this, au contraire, between my dad, me and my habibi - and the shopping! - she had a fantastic trip, if I may say.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
mom and dad in da 'Jing, part II - SEE
Like I mentioned in my previous post, it wasn't all just eating here and there. If there's something else you can't miss in a city like this is history. And this is one place where the description "millenarian culture" can be taken quite literally!
There's so much to see that even though we took my parents to all the places we could, they still had plenty more to visit and discover on their own on those days I was at work.
Obviously, we took them to Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City. And these two make for more than enough in a single day, huge as they are both in physical terms as well as historical. But among the gazillion places they visited with and without us, I'll talk about three. Why three? Well, to begin with, these are the ones I have the best photos of! Ha! But also, really, I'm not going to talk about every single place and adventure - it's just not doable!
Anyhow, first, the Dongyue Temple, or 东岳庙. It's Taoist, it's got a courtyard with numerous stone steles, it's got a gorgeous twisted tree that had to be propped up to keep it from falling, and it has the weirdest collection of statues you could imagine - dozens of them, in numerous halls, representing demons, horrible ways of dying, and multiple ghastly punishments for people failing in this life. Something my parents would most definitely not find home!
We also took them for some Peking Opera (京剧) at the Huguang Guild Hall (湖广会馆)! Once known as one of the "four great theatres" of Beijing, this is definitely one of the places you want to take someone for Peking Opera. The shows are pretty good. But what's also amazing is that the show takes place pretty much as it originally would! That is, you sit at tables, not on rows of seats. You can eat and drink while you watch the show. And nobody expects you to sit straight and motionless and keep quiet! My mom liked it. My dad loved it!
And, but of course, the Great Chinese Wall (長城)! I was not going to miss going there with my parents! We had fine weather (yay for October!), not too many people, and it was a chance for my habib to see where part of my zest for seeing the world comes from, as my dad (who's no youngster) wasted no time to walk the wall and climb bits of it as far as I was willing to! While my poor habib had to stay behind with my mom who had made it very clear she was very happy with the views of the wall from the distance and that she had no need for any dashing and darting and climbing and what not that her son and husband were obviously just too eager to do.
It's was just real cool to show my parents all these (and other!) historic sights. Real fun! And then there was just the ordinary side of Beijing, about which I'll talk in my next post.
Saturday, November 11, 2006
mom and dad in da 'Jing, part I - EAT
Gotta give it to my parents, they visited us in Beirut, and now they've visited us in da 'Jing (that's local expat lingo for Beijing)! And... they timed it so they would arrive for my birthday! Kudos to the folks, totally. They spent a couple of weeks with us, and they even took a trip to Hong Kong and Macao! I love how adventurous my dad is, and he had always wanted to visit Macao, since he was a kid! So I was delighted he took this trip to visit us as an opportunity to realize one of his childhood dreams. Or maybe he took his trip to Macao as an opportunity to come visit us? LOL
Anyhow, I have way too many photos for a single post, so I'll split this in three parts. First, and very importantly, especially in a place like China, food! For what's a travel experience without food? And man did we have them eat and try so many things!
The very first thing we had them try was one of our favourite restaurants - Pure Lotus (净心莲). It's vegan. It's Buddhist. The ambiance is Buddho-kitschy, which is fantastic. The staff are attentive. And the food is out of this world. They have your usual vegan dishes (you know, steamed veggies and the like), but they also have mock dishes which are unbelievably real down to very minute details and which are indisputably delicious. Even my dad, who's not anti-vegan but who's very certainly UNvegan, liked it!
We also took them to Wangfujing's (王府井) night market! Wangfujing is a pedestrianized area in the eastern part of town, full of shops and snack vendors and what not. We go there pretty often for a walk, for the bookshops, to eat dumplings... But the night market is special, as you'll find a number of things on a stick you'd never have considered as food before! Now, you won't be surprised to hear I didn't have any of this. But I don't think I remember my parents or my habib having any either! Or maybe they did that out of some strange respect for me and went back on their own some other day? That wouldn't be completely unthinkable... Hmmm...
Something else I was positive I did not want them to miss was our favourite hangout after a night of partying - Bellagio (鹿港小镇)! Almost without exception, every single night after clubbing we end up at this Taiwanese restaurant. Hell, the waitresses already know our quirks! No animal products in what I order, no pork for the habibi, coconut milk instead of condensed milk for desserts... So, we brought mom and dad (not after partying, of course, but for lunch) to try, for example, their Gong Bao tofu (宫保豆腐), which is like Gong Bao (or Kung Pao) chicken, but infinitely better with the tofu cubes crisp on the outside, with cashews, and huge rings of dried red chili peppers. Yum! But what proved most fun was sharing with my parents our usual dessert: Bing Sha (冰沙)! Now, bing sha is usually translated as smoothie, but the true Chinese/Taiwanese incarnation has a centre of shaved ice, with condensed milk (or, in our case, coconut milk) on top, and beans of different sorts on top and around. Yes, beans! And it's SO good! It took my parents a bit to get around the idea of beans as a sweet dessert stuff, but they managed fine!
Let's see, what else... Well, we took them to a Yunnanese restaurant (that is, a restaurant with food from the southern province of Yunnan), where they had the most varieties of fungus in their lives. We went for a Sichuanese restaurant (food from the western province of Sichuan) where they absolutely loved the super hot and spicy dishes and fish. In the mornings, they would also go to the most basic and ordinary local street stall for dumplings! And we took them to a tea house to have some green tea, and taught them to noisily sip it so the air entering their mouth would aid in perceiving the flavours, and had them munch on some green-tea-powder covered pumpkin seeds...
All in all, just the culinary part of their visit was super fun for all of us! It's just great sharing something like that with people you love, right?
Of course, we did more than eat. We explored the city, obviously. But that'll be the next post.
Key words Beijing, Bellagio, bing sha, China, desserts, food, night markets, Pure Lotus, restaurants, Taiwanese, vegan, Wangfujing, 中国, 冰沙, 净心莲, 北京, 王府井, 鹿港小镇
Saturday, October 07, 2006
The pics:1. Evening view of Singapore, 2. Kampong Glam (Muslim quarter), 3. Indian temple in China Town, 4. Magic Carpet by Xu Bing, 5. Lotus with Chinese Calligraphy
We spent a whole week in Singapore, staying at the place of a good friend of mine (whom I had met when studying in China ages ago!). Some people just stay a couple of days in Singapore, and then go on somewhere else (Bali, for example), but we actually enjoy spending some time at one place, to soak it up and appreciate the little details you might miss on a shorter visit.
Things we enjoyed (in NO particular order):
- How orderly and efficient everything is! I hear some residents get tired of that, they even call it boring, but we had no problem at all finding all the appropriate indications at the appropriate places, being able to use public transport with zero fuzz, having easy access to information about whatever we thought of doing, etc. etc. So what if you have to pay a fine of some thousand Singapore dollars if you bring a smelly durian (a fruit typical of this area, with a VERY strong rot-like smell) into the subway! LOL
- The Night Safari! The Singapore Zoo is open at night, and I loved walking the trails in semidarkness, getting surprised by HUGE flying squirrels (honest, HUGE), and having our trail blocked by a bat hanging from a branch. A bat with a wingspan of 1.5 metres or so, mind you. I loved it. My habib didn't quite fancy the squirrels or the bat, especially since we were so close to them, but that sort of made it more fun for me (I'm evil).
- Swimming with dolphins: We spent about an hour training with pink dolphins. First time in our life we ever touched one! It's so weird looking at them in the eye, and realising this is another intelligent mammal. And playing with them is loads of fun!
- Nightlife: NO complaints here. NONE.
- Xu Bing! This is a Chinese artist who does amazing things involving Chinese characters and things that LOOK like Chinese characters. We had seen "Book of Heaven" in Hong Kong, and now we got to see "Magic Carpet". A whole carpet, maybe 5m x 5m, filled with "Chinese characters" which, when looked up close, reveal themselves as actual English words whose letters have been modified and placed to resemble Chinese characters! wicked! you have to see it to understand it. It was Singapore's Biennale, and we got to see a number of interesting works of art besides Xu Bing's. For example, at the Kuan Im Temple there was this big stone recipient with lotuses, and the stems and leaves had Chinese characters engraved on them! Check out the pic!
- Food, glorious food, Indian, Malay, Chinese, fusion...
- And more art: there was a special exhibition of Japanese Noh theatre! Having been in Japan and seen a full Noh performance, we were more than ready to appreciate this exhibition. I have to tell you, the way the exhibition was presented... the lighting, the way things were placed, they really took their time to put on display some select works of art and make them look even more incredible than they were. When you see how some museums in other countries treat their most important cultural treasures...
- And malls of every size, one of which includes what has become one of our favourite bookstores: Kinokuniya! Books in English on whatever you want and need. We went at least 3 times, and bought enough to get us into trouble at the airport when checking in to fly back to Beijing...
We had a fantastic time. Singapore for just 2-3 days? No way, at least a week.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
5th Anniversary - the whole okonomiyaki
We love Japan. And spending our anniversary there was one of the best decisions ever. Enough said. Here are all three posts:
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Until the RBO decided to break again.
We stopped at Noodles & Company for lunch, and our last errand was a visit to Half Price Books. I had a box full of books I wanted to sell and needed to reload my reading list. We never got there.
When we left Noodles I started the RBO, let it warm up for a few seconds. I try to treat it gently, since I know it's decrepit and liable to disintegrate at any moment. After the engine sounded comfortable I put the car in reverse—and the shift lever thunked and flopped loose in the console. It wouldn't move side-to-side, but wobbled front-to-back without any resistance. My car was permanently in reverse. Like my luck.
"I can't take any more," I said. I couldn't even muster up anger or frustration. We have three months until Michele graduates, twelve weeks before we're secure enough that we can deal with this kind of thing as just another obligation. If the car lasted ninety more days, we could happily wave goodbye as the junk-man hauled it away. We could throw a retirement party for it to match the one my mom had last week. But no. It has to shit the bed during the coldest stretch of the winter (again), and add to the accumulating tension of waiting for grad schools to decide our future.
Where's the nearest dynamite store?
Anyway, Michele made a call, and Future Brother-In-Law came to the rescue. We gathered our box of books from the back seat and he drove us home, where we were going to get into Michele's car and finish our errands.
FBIL dropped us off in the parking ramp, we waved goodbye and got into the other car.
It wouldn't start. The battery was dead.
So a little later the FIL/MIL rescue team showed up. FIL and I went to push the RBO to a car-fixin' place a couple of blocks from where it died. We did a little low-speed bumper cars thing along the back roads, FIL easing his truck up to the back bumper of the RBO and pushing while I sat in the zombie car and steered.
So we got the car to its destination, I locked it and dropped the keys into the little slot in the door. And realized I'd just locked my hat and gloves in my car. That's okay, though. The temperature had to be at least zero.
The good news is that we were able to jump Michele's car to life. Now I can drive that to work for the next couple of days while we wait to find out if the RBO's worth the cost of fixing it.
I'm back to being tempted by the idea of living in a cave. No phones, no lights, no motor cars—not a single luxury.

subset: commoncrawl


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LOS ALTOS HILLS, CALIF. — To environmentalists, the prospects offered by President George Bush do not look rosy. There has not been an environmentally sensitive Republican Administration since the days of Theodore Roosevelt at the beginning of this century. Ronald Reagan had the worst environmental record of any President in U.S. history, and Bush was intimately associated with the Reagan policies for eight years.
Though he did support one or two clean-air moves, Bush also supported letting the automobile industry delay compliance with nitrogen oxide emission standards, opposed acid rain legislation, approved oil exploration in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, urged repeal of automobile fuel economy standards and backed Reagan's veto of the Clean Water Act. He chaired three task forces that advocated letting the Environmental Protection Agency relax its phase-down of lead in gasoline, proposed easing EPA standards for hazardous waste facilities and suspended regulations restricting discharge of industrial toxins into sewers. The League of Conservation Voters, assessing Bush's environmental record, gave him a D. Nearly every time the environment clashed with business profits during the 1980s, the environment lost--and George was there.
Nonetheless, as Reagan before him, Bush declares himself an environmentalist, and, in one statement, seemed to promise change: "I think for too long we've given the playing field away to the Democrats on the environment. I want to make the environment a Republican issue."


text:
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text:
So. You've all been online scrolling through facebook, or Pinterest or Instagram and while you're scrolling you see people posting pictures with quotes on them. Sometimes you read them and laugh, sometimes you sense some passive aggressiveness, sometimes you're just plain baffled.
Well, today I am going to pick a few of the doozies and give you my lovely, sarcastic insight into how they make me feel. Sounds fun, right?
****Warning: what is about to come will contain hints of sarcasm and possible profanity. May induce laughing, or eye rolling. Read at your own risk********
Quote # 1: "If you want something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done"
Me: DUH! This quote is irrelevant and unnecessary. If I want a pool in my backyard, I have to do something I have never done—order it. And isn't there some quote about always wanting what you can't have and green grass? I think, for now, I'll just stick with the same shit I always have.
Quote # 2: "Whenever you find yourself doubting how far you can go, just remember how far you have come. Remember everything you have faced, all the battles you have won, and all the fears you have overcome."
Me: Why? So I can have a panic attack? I mean really, who thought when trying to move forward that looking back would be a good idea? If I am riding my bike, trying to go forward and I look back, you know what's going to happen? I'm going to run into something. Not good at all.
Quote # 3: "Fear isn't possible for the sane mind."
Me: First off, what's this'sane' you're referring to? Second off, what does this even mean? Does this mean that people who are sane don't get scared? If that's the case, then who is really the sane one? I mean fear is a good thing. Fear is an evolutionary tool that's meant to protect us from things that could potentially harm us. So, I will keep my fear and my "insane mind."
Quote # 4: "Without rain nothing grows. Learn to embrace the storms of your life."
Me: Rain, yes. But I'm pretty certain that a thunderstorm with 50mph winds and hail isn't growing anything, except my monthly insurance payment. Let's be realistic: Shit happens. Some of it's good, some of it's bad but moving on doesn't require you to embrace the bad stuff. Sometimes you just have to kick that shit under the rug and leave it be.
Quote # 5: "Great things never came from comfort zones."
Me: I beg to differ. Warm blankets, clean house, no bra, a hot shower, hot tea, chips, binge watching, what more could a person want? You ever heard a horror story of someone going somewhere they weren't familiar and getting lost? I have. That's why I stay in my driving comfort zone. It may take a little bit longer to get there, but we will get there eventually. They're called comfort zones for a reason because they are full of great things!
Quote # 6: "Being happy is a very personal thing and it really has nothing to do with anyone else."
Me: OMG!! I wish more people knew this. I spend a lot of time in my life trying to get people to realise this. You are the only one who feels how you feel, sees things how you see them and reacts to situations how you react to them. Your love is different from someone else's love, and your happy is different from someone else's happy. So you cannot expect someone else to make you happy when their happy is different from yours.
Quote # 7: "Don't worry about those who talk behind your back. They are behind you for a reason."
Me: I know this is meant to mean that people who talk bad about you are beneath you, but why does that have to be said? Why can't we just stay in our own lane and worry about keeping ourselves happy and being around happy people? Why does our society consistently feel the need to step on people to climb up? Why do we put others down to raise ourselves up? It doesn't make sense to me. So, the next time someone talks about you try to let it roll off your back. Don't think any less of that person because they clearly are feeling the need to take the attention off of themselves and you don't know the reason why. Let them fight their own inner demons, and you just worry about your own.
Quote # 8: "We all get addicted to something that takes away the pain."
Me: There is this stigma about addiction right now, and it is making it seem like such a dirty word and such an awful thing to have. But let me tell you, we all have some addiction. We are all addicted to something that makes us feel good. Doesn't mean it has to be bad. For instance, when I don't feel good I have got to have chamomile tea to make me feel better. I am addicted to it in that time. That's not a bad thing. Some people are addicted to certain coping mechanisms to dealing with life events. Some people are addicted to a certain food that makes them feel better. Either way, we need to end the stigma that addiction is a bad word.
Ok! That's all for now, let me know what you think down below and make sure you subscribe!


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July, 2016
Great map of London for sale
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Healthy Juice cleanse delivered to your door
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From discovery days, pond dipping, meadow madness, nature explorers and wild photography classes, The Royal Park has masses for…
New Notting Hill Loaf shack
Furniture shop Loaf has arrived at 103 Lancaster Road selling comfy beds, beautiful furniture and everything else you can think of…
Family Fun at Museum of Brands
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Beatles at the Gate Picturehouse
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A jog in the park with #pinkarmy team
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Silent Film with Organ Accompaniment
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Beautifully presented and stylish 5 bedroom family home
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Tavistock Road, Notting Hill W11 This is a wonderful family home arranged over 4 floors with fantastic high ceilings offering…
4 Bedroom Family House with Parking
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text:
Boccaccio wrote this novel as a way for women to divert themselves from their heart ache. Men have many outlets for their pain, which include: taking a walk, hawking, hunting, fishing, horseback riding, gambling, or attending to business; all of which will diminish the pain that they feel. Women, on the other hand, do not have these same luxuries. Boccaccio intends to tell 100 stories in ten days. A group of seven women and three men will tell ten stories a day; each person having their opportunity to tell a tale.
...I intend to tell one hundred stories, or fables, or parables, or histories, or whatever you wish to call them, as they were told in ten days (as will become quite evident) by a worthy group of seven ladies and three young men who came together during the time of the plague (which just recently took so many lives), and I shall also include several songs sung for their delight by these same ladies. These stories will contain a number of different cases of love, both bitter and sweet, as well as other exciting adventures taken from modern and ancient times. (pp.5)
This novel takes place in Florence, Italy, in 1348. This same year the deadly plague began in Florence; either by the authority of the heavenly bodies or as a punishment from God for all the evil committed by humans. The plague had originated in the East years earlier, wiping out a lot of people. Nothing could stop the plague. Officials were appointed to remove the filth from the city. No sick person was allowed in the city.
The first signs of the plague were swelling in the groin or armpits. These bulges ranged between the size of an apple and an egg. They were called gavoccioli. Soon after contracting the plague the gavoccioli would spread over the whole body. The next stage of the disease was black or livid spots on the arms and thighs, spreading over the rest of the body in a short time. Nothing could be done, most died within three days, only a few were ever cured. The pestilence passed from the sick to the healthy, being around a sick person in any way including touching their clothing could make you sick. I (the narrator) saw it with my own eyes. Animals even died from the pestilence. The healthy began to avoid the sick and the sick person's possessions in order to protect themselves from death.
Some people thought that if they avoided excess they would be spared from the disease. They lived together apart from everyone else. No one was allowed to speak or listen to anything regarding the sick. They entertained themselves with music.
Others believed that excess was the answer. Heavy drinking, singing, and satisfying every whim was the way to ward off the disease. They always avoided the sick.
Laws, both human and the divine were abandoned. Everyone was free to do what they wanted.
There were still others who took the middle road. Neither restricting themselves food and drink nor eating and drinking to excess. They walked about smelling the flowers without a care.
Still others thought that the best way to deal with the plague was to flee the city. They only cared about themselves. They abandoned their homes, cities, and possessions.
An unheard of practice began to spread through the city due to the plague; women did not mind having man-servants. They felt no shame being naked around them. This may be the reason why after the plague women had looser morals.
The city was full of corpses. The bodies of the dead poor would be put at the curb in front of their house and taken with other bodies to be buried with very little ceremony. Often times these people would die all alone and their death would only be discovered when the stench of their dead bodies reached their neighbor's house. When the churches ran out of graves they dug huge trenches and the dead bodies were dumped into them.
The wind spread the pestilence to the surrounding towns and villages, wiping out the residents. From March to July 1348 approximately 100,000 people died in Florence.
One Tuesday morning at the Santa Maria Novella, there were only seven ladies there to hear the services. They were dressed in mourning clothes. They were between the ages of 18 and 28. They were all intelligent, beautiful, and noble by birth. They were also well mannered and modest. I will not tell you their real names, in case they become embarrassed about what I am going to say about them. Paminea was the oldest, Fiammetta was the second oldest followed by Filomena, Emilia, Lauretta, Neifile, and finally Elissa.
Pampinea says to the other ladies: we are all afraid for our lives. The world is going to hell around us; everyone is dying and has abandoned their morals. I think that we should leave the city to protect ourselves. We should go to one of our country houses and enjoy life rather than live in fear and grief.
When she had finished the others were very excited and began planning their trip, all except Filomena.
Filomena fired back: there is no reason to be hasty. Women naturally do not know how to reason in a group. They need the guidance of a man to make the right decision.
Elissa agreed saying: men are supposed to lead women. Without men, we would rarely succeed.
While they were discussing this, three you men came in. None of these three men were over 25 years old. Unlike the names chosen for the women, the men's names all had an etymological significance; their names were Panfilo ("completely in love"), Filostrato ("overcome by love"), and Dioneo ("lustful"). They were all charming and came from good families. All they wanted was to be with the women they loved, who just so happened to be three of these afore mentioned ladies.
When the ladies saw the men come in, Pampinea decided that these men would be their guides. Neifile blushed, because she was loved by one of the young men.
Neifile said to Pampinea: I am scared that if we take them with us there will disgrace and disapproval to follow, because they are in love with some of us.
Filomena responded to Neifile's statement: that doesn't matter as long as nothing dishonorable happens.
The ladies all agreed and Pampinea, who was related to one of the young men, went over to them and explained the plan and begged them to come along. They agreed to come and the seven of them discussed the preparations for the trip. The next morning, at dawn, they and their servants set out for their first stop, which was about two miles away.
Soon after they arrived at their destination, Dioneo, who was more handsome and funny than the other two men, said: everyone should laugh, sing, and have fun or let me go back to town.
Pampinea replied: Dioneo is right, we should liven ourselves up. I believe that disorder will make us want to split up and go back to the city. I propose that we elect a leader from among ourselves and this person will be in charge of keeping everyone happy and entertained. Furthermore, each one of us should experience this title so we will rotate leaders. We shall all elect the first leader, but after today the next leader will be appointed by the current leader. The leader will dictate where and how we shall spend our time.
Everyone agreed and Pampinea was unanimously elected Queen for the day. Filomena went and gathered branches from a laurel bush and wove them into a crown signifying the position of King/ Queen.
Pampinea ordered everyone to be quiet and she called for the three men's servants and four of the lady's servants. She elected Parmeno, Dioneo's servant to be her steward; his job was to manage the household and everything to do with the dining hall. Next, Sirisco, Panfilo's servant was chosen to be the treasurer and the buyer. He has to follow Parmeno's orders. Tindaro, Filostrato's servant, will be the servant to all the young men with regards to their bedchambers when the other men's servants are busy. Misia, my servant, and Licisca, Fiolomena's servant will work in the kitchen as cooks under Parmeno's direction. Chimera, Lauretta's servant, and Stratilia, Fiammetta's servant, will be in charge of taking care of the lady's bedchambers. Furthermore, you servants will only bring us good news despite what you may hear or see, in town.
Pampinea excused everyone to enjoy the gardens and meadows. Everyone was to reconvene at the hour of tierce (about 9 am) for breakfast. When the hour had come they all came into the dining room. They washed their hands and were seated in their assigned places.
After the meal, Pampinea ordered Dioneo to play his lute and Fiammetta to play her Viola. Everyone sang and danced. After a while the Queen decided that it was time for a rest and everyone was sent to their bed chambers for some relaxation. Around the hour of nones (3 pm), the Queen had everyone woken up, because too much sleep in the middle of the day is not good for a person.
They met up in the meadow where there was a cool breeze and shade. They sat in a circle. The Queen said that we should each tell a story rather than just play games, because in games there can only be one winner and happiness will only be felt by one person, but if we tell stories then everyone is entertained. Everyone agreed to tell stories and the Queen appointed Panfilo, who was sitting to her right, to begin with the first story.
Boccaccio, Giovanni. The Decameron. Translated by Mark Musa and Peter Bondanella, Signet Classic, 1982.


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System Utilities / Clipboard Tools / 1st Choice Free Clipboard Manager 13.12
1st Choice Free Clipboard Manager 13.12
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1st Choice Clipboard can copy and store up to 25 different clips, text or graphic. which you can sign in to all your web sites as well as send and receive encrypted emails. You can synchronize clips between computers using Onedrive
1st Choice Clipboard can copy and store up to 25 different clips, text or graphic. You can synchronize clips between computers using Onedrive. It has a superb encryption system with which you can sign in to all your web sites as well as send and receive encrypted emails while only having to remember one master password. You can also allocate hot keys or macros to clips and paste them directly from your keyboard. The multitude of options include, auto-minimize after pasting, clearing the Windows clipboard, editing clips, reducing graphic clips, pasting your digital photos and editing and pasting screen shots.
1st Choice Clipboard is also an excellent screen capture program. To capture the entire screen, type Prt Scr. To capture just the active window, type Alt + Prt Scr. To capture graphics from Word or Internet Explorer, right click on the graphic and click copy. The graphics editor allows you to add text, and clip art as well as crop, re-size and rotate your screen shots.
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text:
Trip In The Hole!!/
FSX/P3D. Finallyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Jarad Marshall has completed and released the tripple installer for his amazing Jackson Hole airport up in Wyoming! A great many of you have been up in arms waiting for this one to finally get release and hopefully this means Jarrad has found a way to work with the high elevation constraints of developing within P3D. Go grab your trip installer now and get flying!!


text:
(Beginning Woods)
Modern Woodworking
Willis H. Wagner
The Goodheart-Wilcox Company, Inc.
(Woods II,III, IV)
Advanced Woodwork and Furniture Making
John L. Feirer and Gilbert Hutchings
Chas. A. Bennett Co., Inc.
Machines and tools used in these courses
Hand Tools
All the typical hand woodworking tools normally found in a well equipt modern wood
cabinetmaking shop. ( Drills-Routers-Circular and Jig saws-Belt, Vibrating and Random orbit sanders-etc.-Chisels-Hammers-Cabinet scrapers-Nail sets-Hand saws-Various wood clamps-etc.)
Typical Cabinetmaking machines found in most modern cabinet shops. (Table saw-Radial arm saw-Surface planer-Jointer-Drill press-Wood lathe-Scroll saw-Shaper-Table mounted router-Bench grinder-Belt and Disc sander-etc.)
Course Objectives
The Students will:
1. Develop a working knowledge of where why and how different woodworking materials (hard wood, soft wood, plywood other wood by products, etc.) are used.
2. Develop an understanding of cabinetmaking joints and fasteners and where, why and when the different types are used.
3. Put the math skills learned in other courses to a practical use calculating material usage, cost of materials, measuring in fractions (English system).
4. Gain the skills and knowledge to safely use and set-up the machines and tools needed to make cabinetry.
5. Develop the organizational skills needed to design, procure, construct and finish various projects.
6. Gain the necessary People skills to work in a work place type of atmosphere.
7. Gain an appreciation for the need to keep the job site clean.
1. Basic math competencies (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division , fractions, percent calculations).
2. Woods I for Woods II, III, IV.
Course Content
Beginning Woods
1. Wood and wood byproduct uses and design necessities.
2. Bill of material or project material lists
3. Wood working joints and fasteners where, why and how each is made and used.
4. Tool and machines set-up, usage and SAFETY .
5. Project design, and construction.
6. Wood finishing technology and skills.
Woods II, III, IV
1. The students will further develop and advance their skills and techniques gained in the lower courses by the construction of increasingly complicated and more advanced projects.
2. Finishing skills will advance to spray equipment.
1. Class attendance. (This is real life type of class where mandatory attendance on a regular basis is required to accomplish the JOB).
3. Quizzes and tests over material presented in class lectures and assigned material out of the book
4. Daily work grade sheets filled out on about two week intervals (10 days).
5. Project grade sheets to be filled out and recorded in the quarter in which the project is finished.
6. 10% of the quarter grades will be derived from the students clean-up activities at the end of each class period and at the other clean-up days.


text:
Latest news
Cops exodus up by more than 30% - pay, morale, health to blame
New Police Federation Leave's survey pinpoints exit triggers.
Chair responds to Westminster incident
PFEW Chair John Apter responds to the suspected terrorist attack outside The House of Parliament in Westminster.
Federation Magazine: August/September 2018
The August/September 2018 edition of Federation is now available.
WMP Sports & Wellbeing Association Lottery Results: July 2018
WMP Sports and Wellbeing Association Lottery is just £1 per week and will give you the chance to win up to £5000 every month!


text:
Pomalaa nickel operation
You can pay by card or invoice
Report summary
In 1962 BPU Pertambun, PT Pertambangan Nickel Indonesia and Sulawesi Nickel Development Corp formed a joint venture to start the mine. In 1968 the venture was consolidated and placed under the control and ownership of PN Aneka Tambang, becoming PT Aneka Tambang in 1974. From 1976, some of the Pomalaa mine feed was sent to a newly built smelter/refinery complex. Development of a coal fired power plant at the site commenced and was stated as being 21% complete by mid 2012. Total capital costs to modernise and optimise Pomalaa are currently estimated at between US$450-500M.
What's included
This report contains
Table of contents
- Key facts
- Summary and key issues
Location maps
- Detailed map
- Participation
- Geology
- Reserves and resources
- Mining
- Refining
- Production
- Costs
- Timeline
Tables and charts
This report includes 9 images and tables including:
- Key facts: Table 1
- Participation: Table 1
- Reserves and resources: Table 1
- Reserves and resources: Table 2
- Production: Table 1
- Cashflow
- Production: Image 1
- Costs: Image 1
- Location maps: Image 1
You may be interested in
Nickel Pig Iron RKEF nickel operation
Nickel Pig Iron EAF nickel operation
Jilin Nickel nickel operation
Questions about this report?
Europe:+44 131 243 4400
Americas:+1 713 470 1600
Asia Pacific:+65 6518 0800


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The 2014 winner of the coveted 'best Baguette in France' award who kept his shop open seven days a week to meet demand has received a visit from government officials who are forcing him to close his shop on Mondays to conform with bakery laws.
Baker Stéphane Cazenave says the move by the government could cost him €250,000 in lost sales, and could lead to him laying off some of his 22 staff. Despite being forced to close, he remains combative and has spoken out against the move, reports theLocal.fr: "People see me like a thug just because I asked to work. Working shouldn't be a crime in France".
While the French government is presently considering plans to allow shops to open on a maximum 12 Sundays a year, it is a far cry from the more liberal British system that allows consumers to buy essentials when they need them, seven days a week, although with restricted hours on Sundays.
The rules, which state any shop which sells bread may not open on seven consecutive days without a 24-hour break is just one of a number of laws still on the statute books in many European nations, throwbacks from the days when governments closely controlled the supply of basic every day essentials.
Britain had strict laws governing the precise weight of bread sold which had existed in one form or another since the reign of Edward the first, in 1266. These rules were abolished in 2008, allowing bakers to sell loaves in sizes more appropriate to the average modern family.


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The VND3 trillion (US$140 million) needed for the project was beyond the capacity of the province's budget, province leaders have said.
In 2010, the province, as part of a pilot project, began building 300 metres of concrete pillars in front of the West Sea Dyke at the most seriously eroded section of the dyke in U Minh District's Khanh Tien Commune.
The concrete embankment has helped to filter water flow, and silt has formed between the dyke and the embankment.
Mangrove trees, which have been planted in the silt, will help prevent further erosion of the dyke. The concrete embankment, which is 50-100 metres away from shore, is made of two parallel rows of six-metre-high reinforced concrete pillars.
In front of the pillars, bordering the sea, is a row of concrete partitions separated by large rocks that help to slow down the flow of seawater, leaving only silt where mangrove trees can grow.
To Quoc Nam, deputy director of the Ca Mau Province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the cost for building the entire 100-metre embankment was too high and that the Government needed to offer support.
The Ca Mau People's Committee, which has approved the entire project, plans to spend VND10 billion ($470,000) to build 1,000 metres of embankment along the dyke this year.
Nguyen Van Luy, a local resident living at the new embankment, said that residents now felt more secure about their homes.
"The embankment can stop strong waves, but some seawater can still come and go through the embankment and create silt," he said.
Serious erosion at the West Sea Dyke, which runs through Tran Van Thoi, U Minh and Phu Tan districts and protects agricultural land, has occurred in recent years.
At many of the dyke's several sections, seawater has encroached into the dyke's foundation because many trees have either died or been cut down by residents.
The erosion has the potential to affect nearly 100ha of farmland where 200 families live. — VNS


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Abel from Wilsnack area Prussia Germany
I have a large number of Abel names from the Prignitz (mostly Wilsnack and Perleberg) area in Germany.
I have created a dedicated web site for the area that lets you see if you have any links to the people of the area... see
If you have any known events for the area you can add your data to the site too !
Dale Schultz
Family tree at http://people.ne.mediaone.net/debale/Family.htmhttp://people.ne.mediaone.net/debale/Family.htm
Wilsnack area genealogy: http://www.iris.com/web/daleweb/wilsnack.nsfhttp://www.iris.com/web/daleweb/wilsnack.nsf


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The Foundry Experience
The Foundry Suites is an iconic luxury hotel in the heart of Buffalo where the glamour and allure of a bygone era is relived. Experience an unparalleled combination of old world charm, first-class service and comfortable surroundings.
The foundry was built in the early 1900's as a manufacturing plant for Railroad signals which changed the age of the railroad industry forever. With its impressive façade, and floor to ceiling windows, its magnificent appearance represents Buffalo's prestigious heritage and notable history.The Foundry has been refurbished to its original elegance and grandeur with a chic, industrial stylish hotel and banquet venue in WNY.
Our hotel places you centrally located to some of Buffalo's premier attractions. Minutes away from Buffalo's renowned Albright Knox Art Gallery, the prestigious Burchfield Penny Art Center, The Historical Museum, The Buffalo Zoo, Buffalo State College and an array of specialty shops and restaurants on the Elmwood Avenue strip. Visit Niagara Falls, only a short distance to one of the seven-wonders-of-the- world. Only minutes away from downtown Buffalo, the Foundry Suites is the premier hotel for business and leisure.


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Clockwork Goblin Sure Arm Their Russian Soldiers Well
July 27, 2013 by brennon
Clockwork Goblin have shown us Germans and Americans but now they are moving onto the awesome Russians. Check out what their basic soldiers look like!
This badass looking soldier is kitted out with some mighty claws, a brilliant armoured suit that makes him look like a behemoth and I can just imagine it belching energy out of those exhaust ports on the back as it trudges across the battlefield.
This line certainly needs to make it onto the table quickly as some weird world war fiends will be on this like a shot I think.
What do you think of it?
Supported by
Supported by


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About the EDC
The Columbus County Economic Development Commission is the lead economic development agency for the Columbus County and its municipalities. As such, we work to promote our area as an excellent place for business relocation and expansion. A partial list of services we provide include:
- Provide detailed community information to prospective businesses
- Respond to Requests for Information
- Provide red carpet tours of the area to businesses interested in relocation or expansion
- Assist existing industry with a variety of needs


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Welcome to American Studies at Leipzig
Area Expertise. Transcultural Literacy. International Skills. Community Dialog.
American Studies at Leipzig builds on the great traditions of European and German universities to prepare students for global engagement and international careers. In this spirit, we pursue four interrelated goals:
to encourage knowledge and expertise about a critical region in world affairs
to explore transatlantic cultural differences to help students understand and become fluent in the dynamics of American culture and life
to empower students to acquire essential international skills for today's globalizing employment markets
to engage the broader community in dialog about the many facets of American life.
We are delighted that you are visiting our website to learn a bit more about what makes our program so unique. And please feel free to contact us with your questions.
- 11 Aug 09:42 aspeers Calls for Contributions on American Anger by 28 October 2018
- 25 Jul 13:29 Repeat Exams LCII and 1401
- 09 Jul 09:51 ASL's Stefan Schubert Defends His Doctoral Thesis on "Narrative Instability"
- 04 Jul 10:42 Secretariat Closed from 9 to 11 July, 2018
- 04 Jul 10:39 Office Hours during the Semester Break Summer 2018
- 01 Jul 12:23 Prof. Garrett's Office Hours Cancelled, 3 July
- 25 Jun 11:35 Office Hours Sebastian Herrmann Canceled on 25. June
- 21 Jun 09:31 Prof. Garrett's Office Hours Cancelled, 26 June
Contact Information
Institute for American Studies
Fax: +49 (341) 97 37 339
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Secretariat Office Hours
Monday - Thursday
For individual faculty members, please click here.
For individual staff members, please click here.
How to find us
Geisteswissenschaftliches Zentrum (GWZ, Beethovenstraße 15), Haus 3, 5th Floor
- Login to post comments


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There are times when I'm just too excited about a recipe. Before I know it I'm elbow deep in cake batter and my trust iPhone, ahem I totally meant super snazzy camera, is nowhere to be seen. Usually I'd count my lucky stars that I have an excuse to make a cake all over again…like I really need one. But then this cake came along and blew my mind. There is no way I couldn't share this beauty.
Autumn is all about spiced fruits and warm tipples. This cake combines the two to create a luxurious fruit cake studded with rum soaked raisins and soft, melt in your mouth apple. All topped of with a light maple creame cheese frosting. Delish.
This fruit cake is light and soft due to the whisked egg whites we pack in. Cutting through the cake you hit pockets of soft, oozing apple and plump sultanas. The spices and booze are offset by a hint of orange and lemon citrus.
It might sound like a lot of flavors and ingredients, especially when topped off with an almost toffee like creme cheese frosting. But it just works. This cake is autumn and comfort all encompassed.
Spiced apple cake
80g sultanas
4 tablespoons rum
280g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
120ml olive oil
160g golden caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3 apples of choice, peeled and diced into 1cm cubes
Zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange
2 egg whites
Maple creme cheese frosting
75g unsalted butter, room temperature
75g dark brown muscovado sugar
60ml maple syrup
150g light creme cheese
1. Pre-heat oven to 170C. Grease and line a 20cm spring cake tin.
2. Add the sultanas and rum into a small sauce pan and gently heat for 5 minutes until some of the liquid has been socked up. It doesn't matter if some is left.
3. Sift the flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder and soda and set aside.
4. Whisk the oil, vanilla extract and sugar together till thick. Then slowly add the eggs till incorporated. The mixture should be quite thick. Fold in the citrus zest, diced apple and sultanas. Then fold in the dry ingredients till well mixed.
5. In a clean bowl whisk the egg whites till soft peaks form. Add 2 tablespoons of the mixture into the batter and mix well. Losing a bit of air now means the rest of the egg whites will mix in easier. Gently fold in the rest of the egg whites.
6. Pour the batter into the cake tin and create a small dent in the middle. When the cake rises it rises the most in the middle so this will create a more even top. Bake for 1 hour and a half or until a skewer comes out clean. This will take maybe 10 minutes less in a fan assisted oven.
7. While the cake cooks make the frosting. Whip the sugar and butter together, then slowly beat in the maple syrup. Finally stir through the creme cheese.
8. Once the cake is cooked let it cool in the tin for 10 mins then remove the spring tin. Leave to cool completely. Cut the cake in half and sandwich 2/3 of the icing in the middle. Spread the final 1/3 of icing on top of the cake.
Cake keeps really well in an air right container for up to 4/5 days.


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Congress seems to love whistle-blowers.
The Dodd-Frank financial regulatory act makes that clear by requiring the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission to pay at least 10 percent, and as much as 30 percent, of any monetary penalties more than $1 million to those who provide "original information" about a violation of the law.
The financial overhaul measure requires the agencies to set up whistle-blower programs by early next year.
The S.E.C., led by Mary L. Schapiro, released its proposal last week. Unfortunately for businesses, the S.E.C. must comply with the Congressional directive that puts the interest of attracting tips about corporate wrongdoing ahead of the internal compliance programs that most corporations set up under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which passed eight years ago. For businesses, it looks like Congress may be willing to use the new whistle-blower programs to undermine Sarbanes-Oxley.
Admittedly, most corporations grudgingly accepted the compliance programs required by Sarbanes-Oxley Act, including the elaborate reporting mechanisms that can involve reviews by the audit committee and the entire board if there is credible information of significant misconduct. The whistle-blower program does not negate Sarbanes-Oxley — companies will still have to keep compliance programs in place, often at a significant cost. But they may well fall into disuse now that employees have a monetary incentive to go directly to the S.E.C.
The initial challenge for the S.E.C. will be to distinguish information that is worth pursuing from mere speculation and conjecture, or, worse, an effort to harm a company. The rule proposal estimates that the S.E.C. will receive some 30,000 tips or complaints a year, and about half will lead to the filing of the required document, Form WB-DEC, which makes a person eligible to receive a payment if a recovery is made based on the information.
The rule proposal tries to limit the number of spurious tips by imposing what the S.E.C. calls "certain procedural requirements designed to deter false submissions, including a requirement that information be submitted under penalty of perjury, and requiring an anonymous whistle-blower to be represented by counsel who must certify to the commission that he or she has verified the whistle-blower's information." How much these modest measures will deter questionable whistle-blower filings is an open question.
Requiring a person to sign Form WB-DEC "under penalty of perjury" may not be much of a deterrent because showing that someone intentionally made an affirmative false statement, a requirement to prove perjury, is difficult. In many instances the information provided will be vague or subject to interpretation, so the threat of a perjury prosecution is probably so low that it will not impede the flow of tips. In addition, the number of people who will use a lawyer to assist in reporting information will probably be fairly small, so this will not provide much of a check on the potential deluge of tips.
Corporations are concerned that the program encourages employees to bypass their compliance programs and go straight to the S.E.C. The agency has acknowledged the potential conflict by encouraging corporate employees to use internal reporting mechanisms while allowing them to qualify for whistle-blower awards. The S.E.C. has also limited who can be a whistle-blower if the information is obtained through a corporate compliance program.
Lawyers, accountants and those responsible for corporate compliance cannot qualify for an award because they do not have the "independent knowledge" required to be a whistle-blower. This is a sensible limitation because working in a compliance program should not be a means to win a reward from the S.E.C. Nor should outside advisers be allowed to benefit at the corporation's expense by reporting information received in the course of representing it.
Still, the proposed rules would not completely exclude employees involved in corporate compliance from being whistle-blowers. These employees can file a report and qualify for a monetary payout if a company did not disclose information about its wrongdoing in a timely manner or otherwise acted in "bad faith." The S.E.C. takes a "never say never" approach that preserves the possibility of receiving a tip from any credible source.
For other employees, the S.E.C. rejected adopting a rule requiring them to first utilize any internal reporting mechanism before providing information, reflecting the Congressional suspicion about whether those programs result in adequate self-reporting of violations. If an employee reports information internally, then the company must act within 90 days, while the employee can still go to the S.E.C. This gives a company a narrow window to conduct an investigation and report the results to the S.E.C., particularly if the accusation involved an overseas operation and possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for bribery of foreign officials.
The Dodd-Frank Act protects employees from retaliation, even if the report does not trigger an investigation or result in an enforcement action. The law prohibits a company from taking any steps to "discharge, demote, suspend, threaten, harass, directly or indirectly, or in any other manner discriminate against, a whistle-blower." This protection will no doubt make life more complicated for companies because the protections afforded to whistle-blowers may effectively encourage more employees — some who are trying to protect their jobs — to file report as a way to keep their jobs.
The only real incentive in the rules for reporting information internally is that the criteria for determining the amount of any potential award includes "whether, and the extent to which, a whistle-blower reported the potential violation through effective internal whistle-blower, legal or compliance procedures before reporting the violation to the commission." That is just one of 11 factors the S.E.C. will consider, however, and is the last one listed.
I suspect that an employee's decision to report information internally is unlikely to have much impact on any award the S.E.C. may give when the whistle-blower is already guaranteed 10 percent of the recovery, particularly if the violation is significant.
The rule proposal also addresses how the S.E.C. will protect the confidentiality of a whistle-blower's identity and information by providing that commission staff need not inform a company about the receipt of information or that the person may be contacted to further discuss potential violations.
In fairness to the S.E.C., the agency does not have much choice in favoring whistle-blowers over their corporate employers because Congress made its intent quite clear, even if an unintended consequence is to limit the effectiveness of corporate compliance programs.
While there is talk of a pushback against the Dodd-Frank Act on Capitol Hill, Republicans and Democrats have agreed over the last few years that encouraging disclosure of corporate misconduct by rewarding those who do so is a good thing
Rather than limit whistle-blowing, I would not be surprised if Congress expanded the program in the securities and commodities fraud area to other government programs, such as health care and defense contracting.


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Four juvenile white sharks were reportedly seen circling swimmers at Manhattan Beach near Los Angeles on Sunday morning, according to local media.
No attacks by the sharks were reported. Los Angeles County Fire Department's Lifeguard Division said in a tweet they monitored the sharks for 30 minutes until they moved away from the beach.
At 10:30am the @LACoLifeguards in Manhattan beach received reports of 4 juvenile white sharks off the coast of the Manhattan Beach Pier.
— LA County Lifeguards (@LACoLifeguards) August 24, 2014
The reports came in from helicopters above the finish of the @CatalinaClassic Paddleboard Race including a helicopter from @LAPDairsupport
— LA County Lifeguards (@LACoLifeguards) August 24, 2014
The juvenile white sharks were monitored by @LACoLifeguards for 30 minutes until they were observed to move offshore.
— LA County Lifeguards (@LACoLifeguards) August 24, 2014
Lifeguard Kylie Daniels told CBS Los Angeles the beach was not cleared of swimmers in accordance with protocol because the sharks were not larger than 8 feet.
The sighting comes a month after a swimmer at the same beach was apparently attacked by a shark, in a video that can be seen here.


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Becoming a Franchise owner has more advantages than going alone in business world. This includes the instant brand name and devoted following. Many successful Franchise Owner Yet, you require an entrepreneur enthusiasm and commitment towards work.
Here we look how to become a successful franchise owner?
Be ready to Learn and Adopt.
You never stop developing yourself. At start of your Franchise you should be ready to absorb things and take advice from successful franchises.
Morpheus Consulting offers training and support, but you should be ready to develop yourself to be a successful franchise owner.


text: Prof. Subhash Modi is one of the senior most; widely acclaimed and respected faculty in the EXIM segment in India. He specializes in entire gamut of import-export laws, Procedures and Documentation e.g. Customs, Excise, Import/Export Trade Control/Policies, Exchange Control, Foreign Exchange, Banking, Insurance, Shipping plus Sales Tax (VAT), Income Tax (vis-a-vis exports). He is a Regular Faculty/ Lecturer for Post-Graduate Diploma/Degree Courses at many prestigious institutes all over the country. He has wide exposure representing various Trade Associations and Bodies at Public Grievances Committees / Regional Advisory Committees at Customs/ Excise Commissionerates.


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First, let me own my knee jerk response:
This wasn't quite my first response. A bit of Darwinism probably helped a girl out there. This brings us back to me biting my tongue. The debate to respond always starts with is a response warranted. Obviously you can all see at this point where I stand on that. Then, when responding to something or someone online I had to stop and consider the following:
|(It should be noted that computer screens do not photograph well)
- Do I really need to engage in an argument on line for all of the world to see?
- The whole world!!!!
- Why does it mater?
So again here I am still proceeding. What am I responding to:
Why? Why does it mater? I would hope that most of my friends and family know me and can see through something posted like this. However, I would also think that the person who wrote it would know better. It was also posted in a public forum where people who don't know me very well or at all could read it. There are two sides to every story for those of you who have seen the original post and or know the writer, I feel the need to tell you my side of the story. For the rest of you, if you ever questioned my self-esteem I hope I answer some of your questions.
|See me biting my tongue! There are no identifying features! It isn't even the whole post!
Let's start with self hate. I took this to mean that the writer thinks I hate my self-image. While there are things about my body that I don't like, I don't think hate is a word I would have used to describe them. In my 34 years of life my body has been stretched and pulled and scarred. While I would say that I need to loose weight, and that is a constant struggle, for probably the first time in my life I can look at my self in the mirror and say if I never lost another pound it would be ok. I can appreciate every scar every stretch mark and every curve. I can say unequivocally I do not care what anyone else sees when they look at me. Now just because I don't care about what y'all see, doesn't mean I think you need to see it all.
Self doubt. I can't argue that I doubt myself. I don't know anyone who doesn't have some self-doubt. I am certain that I have more then most. 5 years ago I experienced a life altering event that left me with PTSD. That day, I made choices that nearly cost me the life of my son. So, yes I doubt my choices constantly. It is hard to not doubt your self when, in your mind, even mundane decisions can mean life or death. On the other hand I do not doubt who I am or what I believe in.
While I struggle with my weight (folks my BMI is 34 I should loose a pound or two) and I doubt my decisions, I do not hate myself. I like who I see when I look in the mirror, both physically and mentally and I can say that I am proud of the person looking back at me. She is beautiful. She is strong. She is patient. She is caring. She is smart. Sure she has her flaws, we all do but, I love her anyway.
While there is still much that I could address I find it necessary to stop here and bite my tongue again.


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Analyst Warns Cable Firms May Double Web Access Fees
Argues they may look for added Internet profits amid TV subscriber losses
NEW YORK - Cable subscribers may not only have to fear carriage disputes that lead to the temporary loss of programming, but also growing Internet bills, the New York Post reported Thursday.
Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne said in report that cable companies may have to double charges for broadband services if more consumers cancel their cable subscriptions to watch TV content online over time.
While Web-enabled TV sets make it easier for consumers to do away with their cable service, Swinburne said the weak economy and housing market are the key culprits for people discontinuing cable service rather than a broader trend of "cord cutting." Still, if more people move in that direction, cable companies will have to make up for the lost revenue and profit. The most likely path is to boost the cost of Internet access services, the analyst argued.
The just-started third-quarter earnings season is expected to yield more color on how prevalent "cord cutting" is becoming.


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Faculty Page
Childhood and adolescence are times of significant emotional and social change. My research seeks to understand how and why these changes occur, with a focus on how development interacts with individual differences to predict variability in emotion regulation. This research is performed at multiple levels of analysis, and involves the use of behavioral, physiological, and neuroimaging measures. The members of the Social Affective Neuroscience and Development (SAND) Lab are specifically interested in two distinct but complementary aspects of emotion regulation: 1) how individuals regulate themselves in the face of appetitive urges and negative emotions; and 2) how social influences, such as friends and parents, impact an individual's regulatory ability. We are particularly interested in how early experiences, including exposure to early life stress, may alter emotion regulation trajectories. While the primary focus of this research is to characterize normative development, I and the members of the SAND Lab also seek to translate our basic scientific findings to special populations who are at risk for emotion dysregulation (e.g., overweight and obese individuals, children of anxious parents, and individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder).
Silvers, J.A., Guassi Moreira, J.F. (in press). Capacity and tendency: A neuroscientific framework for the study of emotion regulation. Neuroscience Letters.
Silvers, J.A., Insel, C., Powers, A., Franz, P., Helion, C., Martin, R.E., Weber, J., Casey, B.J., Mischel, W., & Ochsner, K.N. (2017). vlPFC-vmPFC-amygdala interactions underlie age-related differences in cognitive regulation of emotion. Cerebral Cortex, 27(7), 3502-3514.
Silvers, J.A., Hubbard, A.D., Biggs, E., Shu, J., Fertuck, E., Chaudhury, S., Grunebaum, M.F., Weber, J., Kober, H., Chesin, M., Brodsky, B.S., Koenigsberg, H., Ochsner, K.N., Stanley, B. (2016). Affective lability and difficulties with regulation are differentially associated with amygdala and prefrontal response in women with Borderline Personality Disorder. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 254, 74-82.
Silvers, J.A., Lumian, D.S., Gabard-Durnam, L., Gee, D.G., Goff, B., Fareri, D.S., Caldera, C., Flannery, J., Telzer, E.H., Humphreys, K.L. & Tottenham, N. (2016). Previous institutionalization is followed by broader amygdala-hippocampal-PFC network connectivity during aversive learning in human development. Journal of Neuroscience, 36(24), 6420-6430.
Silvers, J.A., Shu, J., Hubbard, A.D., Weber, J., & Ochsner, K.N. (2015). Concurrent and lasting effects of emotion regulation on amygdala response in adolescence and young adulthood. Developmental Science, 18(5): 771-784.
Silvers, J.A., Wager, T.D., Weber, J., & Ochsner, K.N. (2015). The neural bases of uninstructed negative emotion modulation. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 10(1), 10-18.
Buhle, J.T., Silvers, J.A., Wager, T.D., Lopez, R., Onyemekwu, C., Kober, H., Weber, J. & Ochsner, K.N. (2014). Cognitive reappraisal of emotion: A meta-analysis of human neuroimaging studies. Cerebral Cortex, 24(11), 2981-2990.
Silvers, J.A., Insel, C., Powers, A., Franz, P., Casey, B.J., Mischel, W., & Ochsner, K.N. (2014). Curbing craving: Behavioral and brain evidence that children regulate craving when instructed to do so but have higher baseline craving than adults. Psychological Science, 25(10), 1932-1941.
Silvers, J.A., McRae, K., Gabrieli, J.D.E., Gross, J.J., Remy, Katherine A., & Ochsner, K.N. (2012). Emotional reactivity, regulation and social rejection in development. Emotion, 12(6), 1235-1247.


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Welcome to the Lil Eddies Website!
Lil Eddies is the place for dining in Eastpointe, Warren, and Roseville, Michigan.
We are open for business!!!
Check us out on Yelp
Check us out on Facebook (http://facebook.com/lileddies)
We look forward to serving you and your family delicious scratch made food. The portions are very generous as well.
We encourage you to come to Lil Eddies and experience our high-quality food and service.
Our address:
14984 E 10 Mile Rd, Eastpointe, MI 48021
(586) 554-2323
We are open the following hours:
- Weekdays Monday-Friday: 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
- Weekends. Saturday - Sunday: 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Please leave any suggestions below, to help make Lil Eddies a better place


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Premiere Motorsports Group Off Road Team
Check the results from each of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing venues and following the drivers standings. We have photo galleries for each of the Premiere Motorsports Group Off Road Team Drivers, the Pro 4, Pro 2 and Prolite trucks, all of them in exciting racing action shots. Learn more about what makes the Premiere Motorsports Group Trucks go, we have information about all the truck's equipment. Read the drivers bio's, learn about the background and much more.
Our Off Road Team is managed by the Premiere Motorsports Group with sponsorships from companies like MAV TV, Lunarpages, Lucas Oil, General Tire, and many others. For a full list of the Premiere Motorsports Group sponsor and a link to any their websites, please click on the logo found to your right. Our sponsors support us and without their help this would be much more difficult to provide the quality, excitement you expect in Off Road Racing, please show your appreciation by visiting their websites. Thanks!
Lunarpages, MavTV, Lucas Oil, General Tire, GoPro, Esab Welders, Powerbuilt, FiberwerX, Weismann, FK Rod Ends, RC 10 Team Associated, Fox Racing Shox, Pin Did It, AEM Electronics, Simpson, Gibson Exhaust, Thyssen Krupp, Torchmate, Competitive Metals, Northstar Battery, Beam Designs, Fanman, Corona Motorhome Rentals, Walker Evans Racing Wheels